Riverside Philharmonic will step into new territory when it offers “Animatus Eventus,” the third concert in its current season, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., at the Coil School for the Arts in Riverside.

The performance will feature new and reworked compositions developed for cartoons by top cartoon composers, and multi-media presentations, with a performance of the Paul E. Fick Concerto Competition winner.

“This program is absolutely unique,” said Teri Sokol-Kachur, executive director for the orchestra. “It focuses on the golden era of cartoons. What our audience will hear and see at this concert has never been heard or seen before. The music is all new or reworked for our orchestra, and the cartoons have never been shown with music composed for them.”

“In the early days, sound engineering wasn’t sophisticated, so the early cartoons were silent,” said Tomasz Golka, music director. “An orchestra or pianist or organist would play background music during the cartoon, but it was not composed for the action.

“Music to accompany live action is hugely important. In the case of cartoons, it brings humor to the visuals, it emphasizes the action, it supports the action on the screen. None of the cartoons we are showing had ever had music composed strictly for them.”

According to Sokol-Kachur, the orchestra went to top cartoon composers to seek out the new works.

Emmy- and Annie-winning composer Charles Fernandez has worked in the TV, film and concert music world since 1978, and his piece, “Animatus Eventus,” will open the program as a world premiere.

Named after a similar work he composed for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, it was redone to suit the Riverside Philharmonic. It is based on his original material with nods to cartoons from the past 80 years, including classic cartoon footage shown on a large screen.

“This piece will totally set the tone for the evening,” said Sokol-Kachur. “Then we’ll offer a performance by the winner of our Paul E. Fick Concerto Competition.”

The competition, a new offering by Riverside Philharmonic, was established by Fick’s widow in honor of the man who was a longtime supporter of music programs in Riverside. Francisco Cisneros, a student in the Riverside City College School of Music, won the competition and will perform Ibert’s “Concertino da Camera” for alto saxophone. Cisneros has been receiving invitations to many major colleges.

Four new compositions, accompanying cartoon footage from the 1920s, will be the feature for the second half of the show.

“All four composers are very different from each other,” said Golka. “The essential ingredient is that the music supports the action on the screen, and each composer experiences that action in a different way.”

A second Fernandez work, for the cartoon “Mouse’s Bride,” will be among the works, as will music by Mark Watters for the early Walt Disney animated classic “Alice’s Little Parade.”

Thomas J. Peters, a composer for video games and movies, wrote a piece for a Felix the Cat cartoon, “April Maze.”

Golka wrote the fourth work for another Felix the cat cartoon, “Felix Goes to Hollywood.”

“I write music that supports the action,” Golka said. “Of course, it reflects the influences of classical music, and also salsa and tango. This cartoon was the first one to include Hollywood stars — in this case, Fairbanks and Chaplin — in the action.”

The other three composers are expected attend both concerts, and will be part of a panel question-and-answer session at 7 p.m. for the Saturday concert and 1:30 p.m. for the Sunday concert.

“This is a very unsymphonic symphonic concert,” Golka said. “Still, in other ways, it’s the most symphonic because it highlights what our orchestra can do. These are the greatest studio musicians available — as I like to say, ‘Riverside’s own, Hollywood’s best.’ They can play it all.”

For Golka, putting this program together is an opportunity to share what he does and loves to do with audiences.

“This is very much what I do,” he said. “I’m very lucky to do what I love, to play violin, compose and write and perform music. Whether for film or for the concert stage, it marries my different worlds. In sharing this, it becomes mutually beneficial.”

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